Industry Trends and How to Stay on Top with Gabriel Callaway

Gabriel Callaway joined the DDC team with over ten years of sales, market development, and leadership experience. With his attention to detail in customer service delivery and supply chain experience, Gabriel relates highly impactful business strategies for DDC’s clients to resolve issues, maximize profitability, and unearth growth opportunities.

We sat down with Gabriel to discuss his career with DDC FPO, current market trends that spark his interest, and his views on technology in the trucking industry.

In the “game” of today’s supply chain, carriers have countless balls in the air every day – watching, dodging, catching, throwing. When working with DDC clients, how would you advise them to take the time to assess the performance of their operation?

I advise my clients to use a backward to inwards working style. First, they need to ask themselves what problems they are currently experiencing and analyze the issues from an outsider's perspective to determine how to improve efficiency, processes, and relationships.

Your specialty is unearthing growth opportunities. What is an example of a common issue in one of these processes that can become an opportunity for carriers?

What we are seeing currently in the logistics industry is aligned with what we see globally. Carriers are experiencing staffing issues, primarily in hiring and retaining good team members to perform front and back office functions.

At DDC FPO, I have been privileged to work with many carriers helping to alleviate these issues and create a reliable workforce to perform these duties fully. By allowing us to manage these processes, a carrier is relieved of this function and can focus on more revenue-driving initiatives.

How is outsourcing a process like freight billing more than labor arbitrage? How do DDC’s clients grow from that?

Outsourcing with DDC provides extensive leadership on each of our projects – both onshore and offshore. By choosing DDC for outsourcing, our partners get a team that includes project coordinators, quality assurance managers, and an onshore client account manager that oversees each project, providing the client with a dedicated team that handles the entire process.

By trusting our teams to handle this aspect of their business, clients gain the time to focus on more revenue-driving functions to increase profitability.

You are also very experienced in customer service delivery. What do you think is missing in today's supply chain today? What are the transportation and logistics providers not getting right? And what do shippers want from their carriers and 3PLs that are getting lost?

I've noticed that many transportation and logistics providers lack a dedicated support staff to ensure that each experience a customer has is stellar. Some seem to be missing that customer service needs to come first. Once an organization provides an outstanding service experience, it will receive return customers, often promoting the company organically for new business opportunities.

Shippers want real-time data and communication from their carriers and 3PLs to ensure accurate information is constantly being fed; this is what I believe is getting lost in the mix.

DDC is known for its reliable business continuity. Beyond disaster recovery and risk mitigation, can business continuity drive growth? How do you advise DDC clients to leverage what DDC provides?

Business continuity drives growth through trust. DDC has an in-depth plan to ensure the client's production is not interrupted. DDC's ISO certification provides our partners with the confidence that we will always have the proper procedures to support their needs through any unforeseen circumstance.

DDC's client and project list continues to grow. Do you have a favorite project you have worked on thus far, without naming names? Can you tell us about it?

I'll admit my favorite projects to work on are the "problem projects," when clients are experiencing several issues at once. These projects are close and personal to me because they give me the chance to think strategically and allow me to be innovative in my solutions.

These situations allow me to get close with my clients and develop deep relationships to solve the problems at hand and help them build trust that I am here to help them.

When speaking with DDC clients, you hear everything they are working on and what challenges they are facing. Based on your conversations, what are the most exciting trends right now?

I have enjoyed sharing our new android application, DDC Sync, with my clients. My favorite features are the image quality it offers and the gamification. The gamification piece truly motivates driver adoption, and the image quality reduces rejection rates for our carriers.

How can DDC FPO serve clients to seize growth opportunities in these trends?

With DDC Sync, clients can now process billing documents significantly earlier than previously. The billing, invoicing, and accounts payable departments save six hours of their time on average by processing these documents earlier. DSO is reduced, and cashflow is not just accelerated – but multiplied.

With the gamification feature of DDC Sync, drivers can enjoy friendly competition and incentives, which helps boost team morale and makes happier drivers who want to use this new tool.

Thank you, Gabriel, for taking the time to discuss industry trends with us and giving your professional advice.